New MacBook Pro connectivity (FW800, USB3, eSATA, LightPeak & HDMI)
Nice upgrades to the MacBook Pro line.
I for one am really happy to see FireWire 800 still included on these machines.
I have five external HDs, all with FireWire, of which two are portables (freeagent Go). I also use two video cameras, both FW. I'd hate to lose FW connectivity too soon. Transferring data (audio, video or other) via USB has always been slow and problematic for me. Sometimes pieces are dropped or end up corrupt. FW has always been smoother and problem free in this regard. Hopefully FireWire will still be around a little longer than some expected. Rumours of its untimely demise have been greatly exaggerated of late
eSATA or lack thereof does not bother me as only one of my drives supports it and little else on the market does either. USB3 would have been a nice addition but maybe its early days yet and with LightPeak around the corner we may not need it at all.
HDMI would have been a no brainer. Sorry but display port is just another Apple specific port which only serves to differentiate and annoy when common high quality alternatives already exist.
Waddya think?
I for one am really happy to see FireWire 800 still included on these machines.
I have five external HDs, all with FireWire, of which two are portables (freeagent Go). I also use two video cameras, both FW. I'd hate to lose FW connectivity too soon. Transferring data (audio, video or other) via USB has always been slow and problematic for me. Sometimes pieces are dropped or end up corrupt. FW has always been smoother and problem free in this regard. Hopefully FireWire will still be around a little longer than some expected. Rumours of its untimely demise have been greatly exaggerated of late
eSATA or lack thereof does not bother me as only one of my drives supports it and little else on the market does either. USB3 would have been a nice addition but maybe its early days yet and with LightPeak around the corner we may not need it at all.
HDMI would have been a no brainer. Sorry but display port is just another Apple specific port which only serves to differentiate and annoy when common high quality alternatives already exist.
Waddya think?
Comments
Nice upgrades to the MacBook Pro line.
I for one am really happy to see FireWire 800 still included on these machines.
I have five external HDs, all with FireWire, of which two are portables (freeagent Go). I also use two video cameras, both FW. I'd hate to lose FW connectivity too soon. Transferring data (audio, video or other) via USB has always been slow and problematic for me. Sometimes pieces are dropped or end up corrupt. FW has always been smoother and problem free in this regard. Hopefully FireWire will still be around a little longer than some expected. Rumours of its untimely demise have been greatly exaggerated of late
I recently purchased a couple of portable 2.5 drives (USB 2.0 only) and I was surprised to find out that to properly power these drives I have to use TWO USB ports. I should have spent the extra money on a FW case so that I could use one port to power the drives.
eSATA or lack thereof does not bother me as only one of my drives supports it and little else on the market does either. USB3 would have been a nice addition but maybe its early days yet and with LightPeak around the corner we may not need it at all.
HDMI would have been a no brainer. Sorry but display port is just another Apple specific port which only serves to differentiate and annoy when common high quality alternatives already exist.
Waddya think?
eSATA is good for speed but it's a bit of a hack. The cables don't always fit securely and it doesn't provide power or any other features. We all know Apple is particular about how many ports their computers have. USB 3 will come and at the high end Light Peak. I will gladly spend a premium on Light Peak hardware.
HDMI is a no-brainer but not for the correct reasons. Apple would have to be brainless to include HDMI when DisplayPort is royalty free, optimized for computer displays and still maintains compatability with HDMI via adapters. DisplayPort is a VESA standard not an Apple standard BTW.
I recently purchased a couple of portable 2.5 drives (USB 2.0 only) and I was surprised to find out that to properly power these drives I have to use TWO USB ports. I should have spent the extra money on a FW case so that I could use one port to power the drives.
That is exactly the reason why I bought portables with FireWire. Its a pain to have two USB ports tied up just to power a drive, not to mention how sluggish and unreliable data transfers are via USB. The extra cost is truly justified in this circumstance IMHO.
I understand the VESA royalty free argument and I meant that Apple seems to be the main supporter of the tech whereas most other manufacturers will include HDMI as standard but for a few extra bucks per unit HDMI would have been a nicer option to have on the Pro.
Hopefully FireWire will still be around a little longer than some expected. Rumours of its untimely demise have been greatly exaggerated of late
USB3 or Light Peak will replace Firewire and ethernet.
You can see from the side view of the laptop ports why this is the case:
They can have a docking solution to let you hook up existing drives.
USB3 would have been a nice addition but maybe its early days yet and with LightPeak around the corner we may not need it at all.
USB 3 ports are needed for backwards compatibility with older USB products and Intel have said the standard will co-exist with Light Peak.
HDMI would have been a no brainer. Sorry but display port is just another Apple specific port which only serves to differentiate and annoy when common high quality alternatives already exist.
HDMI is for connecting a computer to a TV, which few people do. It has no advantage over DVI and Mini-DP besides audio but monitor speakers are poor anyway. A Mini-DP to HDMI adaptor is the way to go.
I recently purchased a couple of portable 2.5 drives (USB 2.0 only) and I was surprised to find out that to properly power these drives I have to use TWO USB ports. I should have spent the extra money on a FW case so that I could use one port to power the drives.
It depends on the drive but most should be able to run from one port. Apple's older laptops sometimes put out more power to the right USB port than the left so you're better to use that side for a drive. I have 5 portable USB drives (1 x Lacie, 3 x Seagate, 1x 3rd party USB enclosure with a drive in it) and all of them work fine from one port. Some have two-plug cables but I just use the one port. My FW800 Lacie is faster but I prefer portable drives for size and noise output.
HDMI is for connecting a computer to a TV, which few people do. It has no advantage over DVI and Mini-DP besides audio but monitor speakers are poor anyway. A Mini-DP to HDMI adaptor is the way to go.
HDMI is useful for connecting to a monitor as well and it's just to make money off that Apple forces consumers to purchase DP->HDMI adapters. And, contrary to your statement, a lot of people connect their laptops to their TVs. Monitor speakers are not always poor, either; it's easy to set up a rig that takes the HDMI sound data and puts it through 5.1 surround.
It depends on the drive but most should be able to run from one port. Apple's older laptops sometimes put out more power to the right USB port than the left so you're better to use that side for a drive. I have 5 portable USB drives (1 x Lacie, 3 x Seagate, 1x 3rd party USB enclosure with a drive in it) and all of them work fine from one port. Some have two-plug cables but I just use the one port. My FW800 Lacie is faster but I prefer portable drives for size and noise output.
My next Mac will have FW800 and i'll use it for most of my drive needs. I'm trying to consolidate my storage into a Drobo or something like it. The new Drobo FS sounds interesting but it's expensive. I'm still waiting for Apple to enter the Home Server market before outlaying a bunch of cash on a storage device.
HDMI is useful for connecting to a monitor as well and it's just to make money off that Apple forces consumers to purchase DP->HDMI adapters. And, contrary to your statement, a lot of people connect their laptops to their TVs. Monitor speakers are not always poor, either; it's easy to set up a rig that takes the HDMI sound data and puts it through 5.1 surround.
You're not focused on the core of either technology. "A lot of people" does not constitute anything more than a niche within a niche.
HDMI is for consumer HD devices that hook up to HDTV display. It's bit depth and refresh rates are tailored for the playback of digital video and audio content
DisplayPort is a planned successor to Analog VGA and DVI. It's tailored for running computer displays and supports higher refresh rates.
In 5 years when 4k monitors are available from multiple vendors. HDMI will be suitable for playing back video content and DisplayPort will be suitable for running 4k monitors for content creation.
There's a reason why a Macbook has DisplayPort and an AppleTV has HDMI. Apple knows how to put the appropriate connector on the proper device. They also understand where the market is heading and what display technology is coming.
I fully realize that HDMI is usefull. Hell even I got giddy the first time I hooked up my HD player to my HDTV with one HDMI cable. However today I'm anxiously awaiting a refresh to the Apple TV. I don't see any reason that why I should hook up "any" cable to playback audio or video on my AV setup.
TV will soon go Wifi on a lot of models and accept music and video content streamed from networked PC/Mac/Mobile devices. If you're still plugging in devices to access content you've failed.
Best explanation as to why Apple wants miniature connectors and created mDP (Mini DisplayPort)
I'm looking to purchase a new unit, but I'll need to use it in the field for some really heavy data transfer work; therefore, I'm looking at esata over FW800.
I'd love to know if there are any reports - positive or negative - from folks using this combo "in the wild".
Many thanks in advance for the responses.
Could you do THIS with HDMI?
Best explanation as to why Apple wants miniature connectors and created mDP (Mini DisplayPort)
Mini HDMI exists, too, you know.
Does anyone have any 1st hand experience using esata cards with the newest MPB 17" i7?
I'm looking to purchase a new unit, but I'll need to use it in the field for some really heavy data transfer work; therefore, I'm looking at esata over FW800.
I'd love to know if there are any reports - positive or negative - from folks using this combo "in the wild".
Many thanks in advance for the responses.
This has absolutely nothing to do with this thread. Please don't revive old threads. Make your own or search for a relevant topic.
There are a great number of good eSATA cards out there. Try newegg or macsales.com.